Prophecy's Mother
by MAndrews
Summary: AU fic. What if Voldemort had not killed Lily Potter before trying to kill Harry?
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I never have, and unless some of my evil plans work out, I never will.....

"Lily, take Harry and run!" Trying not to think about what was going to happen to hee husband, Lily Potter ran to the play pen and scooped up her baby son just as a curse shattered the front door. She heard James shouting spells as she ran for the stairs. She has jus treached the top when she heard her husband murdered. Choking back a sob, she ducked into the nursery and slammed the door. She sealed the door with a hoarsely whispered spell and backed away, wishing James' final cry would stop echoing in her ears. She had to focus, she had to protect her son.

She heard footsteps in the hall. Clutching her son tightly, she closed her eyes and tried to disapparate but failed. Whether is was because she couldn't concentrate with James' dying scream in her head, or whether Voldemort had cast an anti-disapparation spell, she didn't know; and it didn't matter, it was too late. She deposited Harry in his crib as the door behind her shattered under the same spell that had destroyed the front door. Whirling to face the dark wizard, she made a desperate attempt to protect both her and her son.

"Impedimentia!"

"Protegro! Crucio!"

The unforgivable curse knocked Lily off her feet. The pain seemed to go on forever, and when it finally did stop, her wand was out of reach. She rolled over and reached for her wand, knowing even as she did so that it was hopeless. Her fingers had just closed around the smooth wood when Voldemort turned his killing curse on the infant wizard before him.

"Avada Kadavra!"

The world turned green before Lily Potter blacked out.

Lily woke to find herself being carried over what seemed to be rough terrain. The evening's events came rushing back as the cool air cleared her clouded mind.

"James! Harry!" she choked, half screaming, half crying.

"Harry's all right, Lil," a ragged, but familiar, voice said from somewhere near her feet. She lifted her head and found herself looking at Sirius Black who was carrying her son, who seemed to be half asleep. Sirius' eyes, usually alight with mischief, were now darkened by grief and guilt.

She looked up to see who was carrying her and say the hairy face of Rubeus Hagrid looking down at her. He, too, looked uncharacteristically sad and Lily looked away quickly. She was not ready to deal with her own loss, let alone theirs.

"Where are we going?" she asked shakily.

"The Three Broomsticks,": Hagrid answered, sniffling. "Then we'll floo ta Hogwarts."

"How are we getting to Hogsmeade?" There was no way she could apparate right now.

"I've got my bike here and your broom survived the...the curse...." Sirius broke off awkwardly and blinked conspicuously as they stopped walking. Lily felt a chill that was unrelated to the chilly night air as the implications of Sirius' words sank in and she realized why the ground had been so uneven.

"We need ter get outta here afore the muggles start poking aroun' " Hagrid said, his voice cracking, as he placed Lily gently on her feet. Lily took her son from her husband's best friend and bent her head over him, anxiously checking to see if he was all right. He locked his tiny baby fingers sleepily into her long red hair and looked up at her with clear green eyes that matched her own. His sweet face, so much like his father's, now had a lightning shaped scar across the forehead.

"Accio broom" Sirius said quietly, pointing at the ruins that had been the cottage Lily and James had made their home when Voldemort's pursuit had forced them into hiding.

"What happened to Voldemort?" Hagrid winced at Lily's question.

"He seems to have disappeared," Sirius replied quietly as he caught Lily's broom. "Hagrid, you'd better take the bike."

"Harry will ride with you," Lily said as Hagrid sat down. Reluctant as she was to let go of her son, she knew he would be safer riding with Hagrid than with her and Sirius on the broom.

Once Harry was safely stowed with Hagrid, Lily seated herself behind Sirius. She closed her eyes and leaned into his broad back and let him fly them to England's only all magical settlement, trying not to think about the fact that she was now a widow.

Albus Dumbledore was standing silently beside his fireplace when the flames turned green and Lily Potter appeared. He took her arm to steady her before leading his to a large, soft chair. She sank into it, her sleeping son cradled in her arms. The old professor turned as the once again emerald frames produced another human form. He was surprised and somewhat alarmed to realize it was Sirius Black, but Lily seemed glad to see him. She reached out a plaintive hand to him, which he gripped in his own as he dropped into the chair beside hers.

The flames turned green again and this time Hagrid appeared, looking sick as he always did when travelling by floo.

Dumbledore sat down facing Lily. "Do you have any idea how Voldemort found you?" Behind him, Hagrid flinched. Dumbledore didn't wish to accuse Sirius directly, but as far as he knew, Sirius had been the Potter's secret keeper.

"Peter must have told him," Lily whispered.

"Peter?" he repeated in surprise.

"Peter," Sirius confirmed. "We switched at the last minute, my idea. I thought it would throw them off, they'd be coming after me and I wouldn't even have what they wanted." He laughed bitterly. "I never dreamed Peter was the traitor. But when I went to check on him he was gone and there were no signs of a struggle." He made a strangled sound in his throat before continuing. "All this time I've been thinking it was Remus. How could I be so stupid!?!" He broke down into sobs at this point. Lily pulled her hand from his and began rubbing his shaking shoulders.

"You couldn't have known."

"I should have just done it myself, like we planned. If I hadn't..."

"It is not your fault," Dumbledore said, gently but firmly. "None of us suspected Pettigrew. I believed it was either you or Remus and Remus thought it was you. But Peter alone is responsible for his choices. This is no time to wonder 'what if.' We must deal with what is. Go down to Poppy, Lily, and ask her to give you a potion for dreamless sleep. We will talk more when you awake." Lily nodded and quietly left the room. "Hagrid, please go ask professor McGonagall to join me." Hagrid nodded and disappeared as well.

Dumbledore now turned to Sirius. "I know how you are feeling." he told the younger wizard, "but I must ask you not to go after Pettigrew." He held up a hand when Sirius opened his mouth to object. "I know, I know, but I promise that he will be a priority for the aurors. There are other things you need to do."

For a moment Sirius didn't respond, then finally he nodded. "Tell me and I will do it."

"Later, Lily is not the only one who needs some sleep." Sirius nodded once more and then he too was gone.

Alone now, Dumbledore sat down at his desk and began pulling our parchment, quills, and various silver instruments. There were many things that needed to be prepared for when Lily and Sirius woke up. A safe place had to be found for the young witch and her son, aurors needed to be alerted, Voldemort's willing followers had to be sorted from those he had been controlling, and there was also grief to be faced. The next few days would be both busy and emotional, there was no time to waste.


	2. Snakes and Revelations

Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter, I'm just playing with it and promise to return it with the characters only slightly traumatized ;-)

A/N: If you are reading this and would like there to be a next chapter, review, otherwise I'll think no one cares and go back to writing in my head. More reviews will also get a new chapter faster.

Harry Potter was having a delightfully odd dream about a flying motorbike. It ended abruptly as his god-father knocked on his door and informed him breakfast was ready. The now ten year old son of Lily Potter assured his god-father that he was coming and grabbed the nearest relatively clean clothes. Once dressed he hurried down the stairs to the kitchen of number 6 Privet Drive where his mother was pouring juice while eggs tipped themselves onto three plates.

Harry was not surprised by the floating frying pan; for most of his life his mother and god-father had been using magic around him, though they had waited til he was old enough to know not to tell anyone about it unless they were family. Not that it was a good idea to talk about it with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon who lived next door, and his cousin Dudley had never been told. Harry wished he could tell his cousin, because threatening to turn him into a pig would have been useful for making Dudley and his gang leave him alone.

"It's Dudley's birthday to day," Lily reminded her son as he picked up a piece of toast. He groaned, earning a frown from his mother and a grin from his god-father. Usually, Harry and Lily would go over on Dudley's birthday, drop off a present, though they had never gotten one in return, and that would be it. Today, however, Lily and Sirius were both going to Diagon Alley and, as usual, had refused Harry's please to go with them. Therefore, Harry was stuck going with his cousin to the zoo. He hoped he would run into some of his school friends at the zoo, but he doubted it.

Harry did not meet any other friends and was forced to spend the entire day with his cousin and his cousin's friend, Piers Polkiss. He hung back as much as possible since the Dursleys liked to pretend they didn't know him and the feeling was mutual. It also went a long way from preventing Dudley and Piers from beating up on Harry when they began getting bored with the animals.

The day went surprisingly well, Harry was even allowed to finish Dudley's first dessert when Dudley threw a fit, complaining it wasn't large enough. After lunch, however, things began to go wrong.

They had gone to the reptile house where Dudley again lost his temper because the largest snake wouldn't move. He sulked away but Harry stayed by the tank.

"Sorry about him," he apologized to the unmoving snake. "He's a git. You're lucky you don't have to put up with him all day though."

Although he had been raised with magic, Harry was still surprised when the snake lifted it's head and hissed sympathetically. "Can you understand me?" Harry asked, leaning closer to the glass. The snake nodded and Harry was excited, as he always was when his own magic manifested.

"You're from Burma aren't you?" he asked. The snake pointed to a sign that said "bred in captivity." "That's sad. I bet you'd love to go to Burma," Harry answered. The snake nodded. Before Harry could say anything else, he suddenly found himself falling and hitting the ground hard. Dudley had pushed him and was not shouting for Piers and his father to come see what the snake was doing.

Harry's temper rose and for the second time that day, his own magic manifested. As he rolled carefully off his freshly scraped knees and palms he heard a frightened cry behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw the snake slithering through the place where a few moments ago a thick sheet of glass had separated it from the rest of them. The snake snapped at Dudley's heals as it passed, hissed its thanks to Harry and disappeared into the bushes outsisde.

Later that night, as Harry was losing a game of wizard's chess to his god-father, his mother arrived home.

"Did you set a snake on your cousin?" she demanded, depositing several bags on the kitchen counter. "Petunia's having a fit!"

"Harry looked up from watching Sirius' black knight destroying his own white bishop. "I didn't do it on purpose!" he protested. "Dudley pushed me!"

Lily sighed as she joined them at the table, catching the defeated bishop and the knight threw it from the board. "I figured it was an accident. But you have to try to control your temper, you know what happens when you don't." Harry opened his mouth to protest further. "I know," Lily continued before he could, "you can't help it and Dudley is always provoking you." She sighed again. "I'll be glad when you go to Hogwarts and learn some control."

Harry nodded and turned back to the game, sending his remaining bishop after one of Sirius' pawns. His mother's efforts to teach him control had mostly failed though Harry could occasionally recognize in time that his temper was likely to get him in trouble and calm himself down.

The chess game finished, Sirius' queen destroyed Harry's and checkmated his king at the same time, a few minutes before Lily finished making dinner. The meal was unusually quiet and Harry found himself fidgeting anxiously. When the clean plates were back in the cupboard, Lily and Sirius say back down and told Harry they needed to talk.

Harry sat down, looking back and forth between the two of them worriedly.

"It's about the night your father died," Lily began, glancing at Sirius quickly. Harry blinked at her in surprise. His mother had told him a few years ago that his father had been murdered by one of the most powerful dark wizards in centuries. He knew also that the attack had destroyed their house and that the lightning shaped scar on his forehead came from that night.

"Harry, the night Voldemort attacked our house, he tried to kill you. He used the same curse that killed your father and many other wizards. It hit you, but didn't kill you. It rebounded, that's why he disappeared that night."

Harry stared at his mother in shock for several minutes before he finally found his voice. "Why?" he whispered.

Lily and Sirius exchanged looks again. "We're not...well, no one knows for sure. But he did, and everyone with wizard parents at Hogwarts will know it. Anyone not muggle-born will have grown up hearing how Voldemort vanished because of you."

"That's why we never brought you to Diagon Alley with us," Sirius told him a few moments later, when Harry's breathing had returned to normal. "We didn't want you to find out that way."

"I hope you understand why we didn't tell you all this before," Lily said quietly, taking one of Harry's hands in hers. "It's hard to know when someone's old enough for that kind of information."

Harry nodded mechanically. The two adults answered a few more questions that Harry asked, but avoided the issue of why Voldemort had targeted a baby wizard. That night, Harry dreamed about a flash of green light and people screaming.


	3. Diagon Alley

Disclaimer: I still don't own the Harry Potter world and I'm not planning to sell this or any of that other stuff I'm not supposed to do.

Reviewer Response:

axw: …yes dear pats on the head and mutters about patronizers

tvnerdgirl: thank you dear beta! (and this is what you call patience ;-)

Linwe: look, update! Thanks for the review

Sarah: thanks, glad you like it, always nice to hear from other writers I like

Reedy: I have a reason for Lily living next to her sister that will come out later and I too am tired of authors who don't finish what they start, but if I don't tell them I'm interested, why should I expect them to continue telling me?

Harry Potter raced down the stairs two weeks before his eleventh birthday and skidded to a stop by the table. His mother looked up from the Daily Prophet with an amused look. "It's not here yet Harry," she told him. Harry sighed and dropped into his chair.

Lily smiled and levitated a plate of toast from the counter. "Maybe it will get here by the time you finish breakfast," she suggested. Harry sighed again and picked up a piece of toast. He was on his third slice when his godfather finally appeared.

Sirius, who had only gotten up because the smell of coffee had reached his bedroom stopped in the doorway and shook his head at his godson. "It's summer vacation Harry," he pointed out as he sank into a chair. "You are not supposed to be out of bed before noon."

"I just want my letter," Harry explained around a mouthful of toast. He swallowed hastily when his mother frowned at him. "Sorry," he said quickly.

"That letter had better come today; I'm tired of this kid beating me to breakfast," Sirius informed Lily as he scraped crumbs from the butter. Lily smiled as she turned a page of the paper.

When breakfast was finished, Harry went to sit in front of the window to watch for the owl he was sure would come today. He watched Dudley and his gang as they played with Piers' new bike. He bit back a laugh as Dudley crashed into a curb and settled himself into the big, fluffy cushions that buried the couch. A few seconds later he glanced at the cuckoo clock to check the time.

"It's only 9:30," one of the cuckoos told him, peering out from its door. Harry sighed as the wooden bird disappeared again. Ten minutes later the bird was telling him off for waking it up again when there was a tapping at the window. Ignoring the cuckoo's muttering, Harry flung open the window, quickly ADVERB took the official looking letter which was addressed in shining emerald ink and ran out into the back yard where Lily and Sirius were inspecting Lily's garden.

"It's here!" Harry shouted as he burst out the backdoor.

"Thank goodness," Sirius exclaimed as Harry dropped to sit on the steps as he tore open the letter. A few minutes later he cheerfully handed to letter to his mother who skimmed it, familiar with what it said, and turned to the list of school supplies.

"We'll go to Diagon Alley after lunch," she told her son, ruffling his messy hair.

"You mean you're going to take me with you?" Harry asked , scrambling up.

"Can't very well buy you a wand if you're not there, can we?" Sirius answered, grinning.

"Yes!" Harry cheered before racing inside. Lily and Sirius exchanged amused looks and went back to trying to decide whether Lily's muggle garden really had a gnome problem. Ten minutes later they were interrupted as the back door flew open again and Harry informed them that lunch was ready before disappearing again. Lily stared at the door in surprise and Sirius burst out laughing.

"It's only ten o'clock in the morning!" Lily objected, glancing at her watch. She shook her head in motherly exasperation and followed Sirius inside. Harry had made some hasty sandwiches and was cramming one into his mouth.

Sirius picked two up and handed one to Lily. "The boy has spoken," he told her, still grinning. Harry nodded as he swallowed an over large bite of sandwich. Lily shook her head again but obediently bit into the ham sandwich Sirius had handed her, deciding they'd get something a little more substantial at the Leaky Cauldron later.

When all three sandwiches were gone, Harry led the way to the fireplace and picked up the floo powder pot and handed it to his mother. He'd watched both his mother and godfather do this many times, but he'd never done it himself and though he would never admit it, he was a little nervous.

Lily took some powder as Sirius magically lit the fire. "The two most important things to remember," she told Harry, "are to speak clearly and to keep your arms tucked in until you start to slow down." Harry nodded his understanding and watched as his mother stepped into the flames. When she was gone he glanced at Sirius who grinned. "Go on, you next!" Harry took a deep, steadying breath and grabbed some powder. A moment later he was spinning around very fast, holding tight to his own elbows. He felt himself slow and threw out his arms and found himself tumbling into a dim room, which may have been because his glasses had flown off and broken. His glasses flew off and his mother repaired them as she helped him up.

"I'm not sure I liked that," Harry commented as Lily moved him away from the emerald flames that were about to spit out his godfather.

"A lot of people don't" Lily agreed.

"Smart," a voice said from their left and Sirius unfolded himself from the large fireplace.

"Hagrid!" Lily exclaimed, turning to greet the man who had spoken. Harry turned too and felt his jaw drop. Lily and Sirius often talked about their friend Hagrid. They had mentioned that he was large, but Harry had not expected anything like this.

Lily stepped away from Hagrid and pulled Harry forward. "Harry, this is Hagrid," she told him, smiling. Harry shut his mouth and extended a hand which disappeared into Hagrid's huge paw.

"Good ter see you agin Harry, I haven't seen you since you was a baby!" Hagrid said.

"It's nice to meet you too," Harry replied. "Mom and Sirius have told me lots about you. And I liked all the presents you sent me." Hagrid beamed He had sent Harry a present every birthday and gotten thank you notes as soon as Harry was old enough to write.

"So what brings you to London Hagrid?" Sirius asked, shaking Hagrid's hand in greeting.

"Hogwart's business," Hagrid replied, puffing out his chest, then he smiled again. "Knew you'd be here too since the letters went out and thought I'd meet ya.'

"That's a wonderful idea!" Lily agreed. "Gringott's first?" Hagrid nodded agreement and the four of them set off. Hagrid pulled out a pink umbrella and started muttering numbers under his breath, moving his umbrella slightly as he did so. After a moment he nodded to himself and tapped a brick smartly. Harry watched as the bricks began to fold themselves into a doorway leading to Diagon Alley.

Lily and Sirius followed Hagrid through the doorway then turned to wait for Harry. He stopped as the bricks reformed the wall behind him and stared around excitedly. He had been dying to come here ever since he could remember, and now he was finally here.

"Come on, Pronglet," Sirius called as the adults began to move away. Harry followed, looking around as much as he could without losing sight of his mother. Far too soon they reached a large building with goblins standing at the doors, bowing in customers. Harry recognized them from the books his mother and Sirius kept in Sirius' study.

"There's a free goblin," Sirius announced, leading the way. "We need to go to the Potter vault, and the Black vault," Sirius informed the goblin when they reached him.

"Do you have your keys?" the goblin asked while Harry watched the one at the next station weighing rubies bigger than Harry had thought possible. Sirius and Lily both displayed small gold keys and the goblin at the counter called for another one. "Griphook!"

"We'll meet you back up here," Lily told Hagrid when Griphook arrived a moment later. Hagrid was still waiting for Sharpclaw to take him to vault 713. Hagrid nodded and the Potters and Sirius followed Griphook out of the marble lobby into a stone corridor lit by flickering torches. Harry settled into a rickety cart beside his mother and looked about as it zoomed off. A burst of fire at the end of one tunnel as they flashed by reminded him of Sirius once telling him that dragons guarded some of the vaults. He had thought Sirius was kidding at the time because dragons were violent creatures impossible to tame, but now he wondered.

When they reached Siriu's vault, Harry watched from the cart as Sirius and the goblin climbed out and Griphook opened the door. Harry was surprised at the amount of money he saw inside. He had never really thought about how much money they had, they just always seemed to have what they needed, but there was a small fortune in that vault.

Lily must have seen his surprise. "The Blacks and the Potters are both old families, and yes, they're both rich families. That's why neither Sirius nor I have out of home jobs."

"Oh," Harry answered. He'd never really thought about that either. Sirius climbed back into the cart and they were off again until they reached the Potter's vault. Harry climbed out with his mother and was only slight less surprised to see how much gold, silver, and bronze was piled in their vault. Lily filled a small pouch with coins and handed Harry three galleons. Harry tucked them into his pocket and followed his mother back into the cart.

When they reached the lobby again, Hagrid was already waiting and he looked rather green.

"Come on," Sirius said, clapping Hagrid's huge shoulder. "I'll buy you a drink at the Leaky Cauldron." Hagrid nodded gratefully and the two men left after promising to meet Harry and Lily at the book store in half an hour.

"Might as well get your robes first," Lily told her son, leading him through the busy streets to Madam Maulkin's Robes For All Occasions. "You go on in, Harry, I just have to pick something up at the gift shop. A friend's birthday is coming up."

"All right," Harry agreed. He went into the store as Lily headed across the street. Madam Maulkin greeted him. "Hogwart's dear? Right this way, there's another boy being fitted too."

Harry was told to stand on a stool while Madam Maulkin pinned up a set of black robes. Harry glanced over a saw a boy with white blond hair watching him.

"Hello," Harry said, although the boy didn't look very pleasant.

"Hello," the boy answered. "Where're you're parents?"

"Mom's picking up something across the street and my dad's dead," Harry answered, startled by the question.

"He was our kind wasn't he?"

"He was a wizard, yeah," Harry answered, liking the boy less and less.

"I don't think they should let the other kind in."

"My mom was muggle born," Harry replied coolly. Sirius had told him about wizards who were obsessed with pure blood. Voldemort had been obsessed with pure blood too, Harry remembered.

A distinct sneer crossed the boy's face but was prevented form replying by Madam Maulkin cheerfully informing Harry that he was done. Harry hopped down and followed her to the front of the shop where his mother was just entering with a small bag in her hands. She paid for Harry's robes and they hurried to the apothecary to get his basic potion supplies before they had to meet Sirius and Hagrid. They finished and reached the Flourish and Blott's only a few minutes after Sirius and Hagrid had.

In the store, Lily was explaining to Harry why it would be a very bad idea to buy a book of curses to get back at Dudley when a voice called Lily's name from the other end of the aisle.

"Lily! Getting Harry's things?" a red haired man asked as he approached.

"Yes. How are you Arthur?" she said as the man reached them.

"I'm good, I'm good," he answered. "So, this is Harry is it? Wonderful to meet you!" The man shook his hand enthusiastically as Lily introduced him to Mr. Weasley.

"Getting Ron's books?" Sirius asked, appearing from the next aisle.

"Just a few, for most of them he can use Fred and George's old ones."

"And how are the troublemakers?" Sirius asked, grinning.

"Almost as bad as you and James were," Mr. Weasley laughed. Harry grinned too, hoping this would lead to more stories of his father and Sirius' school antics. But they were interrupted by the arrival of a gangly red headed boy.

"There you are Ron," Mr Weasley said as the boy approached, holding a book of magical animals. "Ron, this is Sirius Black, and Lily and Harry Potter. This is my youngest son Ron." He clapped his hand on the boy's shoulder, beaming proudly. For his part, Ron's jaw dropped and he stared at Harry.

"Er, hi," Harry said.

"Hi!" Ron answered, closing his mouth hastily. He extended his hand and Harry shook it, noticing that Ron's eyes seemed focused on Harry's scar.

"Why don't you two go get some Ice Cream and we'll meet up with you when we've got the rest of your school supplies?" Lily suggested.

Ron glanced at Harry who shrugged. "Sure." The two boys left and went to Flortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and Harry paid for two large sundaes with which the owner, upon recognizing Harry's scar, included a chocolate frog. Harry got a Dumbledore, of which he had three, and Ron got a Morgana, of which he had 2. Ron soon seemed to get over his awe of meeting the-boy-who-lived and the two boys were talking like they'd known each other for years. However, their conversation kept getting interrupted by people who noticed his scar, which always attracted the attention of anyone nearby who hadn't noticed on their own. A woman named Doris Crockford kept coming back to shake his hand until Sirius appeared and rescued them. Ron and Mr. Weasley declined a dinner invitation, insisting that they needed to get home but promising the meet them at King's Cross on the first of September.

"So what do we still need to get?" Harry asked as they moved through the crowds of witches and wizards.

"Just your wand," Lily answered. "Hagrid's meeting us at Ollivander's."

"Let's go!" Harry urged. He'd been looking forward to a wand since the first time he'd seen Sirius levitate a toy across the room.

Ollivander was an old, white-haired man who made Harry rather nervous as he darted around the shop. He barely let Harry touch a wand before declaring it the wrong one, chattering all the while about the Lily, Sirius, and James' wands. Hagrid appeared after the twelfth wand and Ollivander added the details of Hagrid's wand to his monolugue. Harry noticed that Hagrid shifted his grip on his pink umbrella nervously when Ollivander suspiciously asked him whether he still used the broken pieces of his wand. Sirius noticed too and winked at his godson. Harry grinned then turned as Ollivander returned with a box and a peculiar look on his face.

Harry tried the wand and a warm golden glow and a trail of red sparkles seemed to satisfy Mr. Ollivander that this was the right wand, but he was still looking at Harry with that peculiar expression.

"Odd that you should be destined for this wand," he commented, staring at Harry with disquieting eyes.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"The phoenix that provided the tail feather for your wand provided just one other. That other feather is in the wand that, I am sorry to say, I sold to you-know-who."

Harry was so surprised by the information that he didn't hear his mother's sharp gasp behind him. "I think it's clear that we can expect great things from you, Mister Potter," Ollivander continued softly, an odd light in his eyes. "Afterall, he-who-must-not-be-named did great things…terrible...but great."

Lily paid for Harry's wand and the four of them left the shop and went back to the Leaky Cauldron where Lily and Sirius had rented two rooms for the night. Hagrid joined them for dinner and gave Harry the snowy owl he had bought as an early birthday present while Harry tried out the first few wands.

That night, Harry lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He felt very satisfied; he had his school supplies, he had finally been allowed to visit Diagon Alley, and he had made a new friend.


	4. The Hogwart's Express, Hermione and Nevi...

Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter, if I did, this wouldn't be on a fanfiction site. I am not making any money off this. I promise to not traumatize the characters too much, or at least not irreparably.

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to appear, I was planning to have it done a two weeks ago and I almost was, then the file got corrupted somehow and I lost everything. But I think how this one's turned out better anyways. Thanks for the patience! Also, please forgive any changes from Canadian/British spelling to American and blame my laziness about changing to computer's setting every five minutes.

Reviewer Response:

SarahtheBardess: Um, oops? The adverb tab was from my beta reader, he thought I was using too many so he labeled them all and I guess I missed one. And thank you very much for the compliments, it's nice to know things are working out as I planned.

Linwe: Men indeed! Thanks! And I think I've seen Pronglet in a few others fics so I can't take credit for it

Smorefan: Glad you like it, see author's note for explanation of long wait

tvnerdgirl: I thought I did say why Lily kept him away. she didn't want him to find out about Voldemort and his father and his scar like that.

The morning of September 1st, Harry came pelting down the stairs, skidded to a stop by the table and looked expectantly at his mother and god-father. Sirius indicated a chair, "I am not leaving until we've had breakfast. The train doesn't leave til 11:00 anyways." Harry sighed but obediently sat down and accepted the toast and eggs his mother passed him, missing the amused looks Sirius and Lily exchanged.

Harry finished breakfast as quickly as he could, despite Lily's assertions that he was going to make himself sick, and raced back upstairs, scouring his room for anything he might have forgotten to pack. He found a few books he'd forgotten and threw them into his trunk. He pushed his trunk into the hallway so Sirius could levitate it down the stairs and grabbed Hedwig, the owl Hagrid had given him. He scooted past his trunk and hurried back downstairs.

"I'm ready to go!" Harry announced. He waited impatiently for the adults to get up but both of them looked up from their breakfast with tolerantly amused looks, or at least Lily did, Sirius was not looking particularly tolerant at the moment.

"Just because you are satisfied with inhaling your food, doesn't mean the rest of us are," Sirius informed him tartly. "Breakfast includes coffee, which must be consumed with the proper appreciation." Sirius pointedly turned away from his godson and went back to the Daily Prophet which he had spread over the table after Harry's rapid departure a few minutes before. Harry looked beseechingly at his mother who was buttering a piece of toast.

"It's not good, Harry," she laughed. "You should know he won't move til he's ready. Why don't you go say goodbye to your friends while you wait?"

Harry sighed dramatically and left the house. Only one of his friends would be awake this early in the morning and he lived too far away. Unable to think of anything else to do, Harry stopped to see Arabella Figg, a squib who lived a few blocks away. She provided him with slightly stale chocolate cake and a running commentary of the lives of her multiple cats, at least one of which Harry suspected was not a normal cat. At 9:30, Harry said goodbye to Mrs. Figg and went home. His uncle was getting the paper from the front proch when Harry passed and he scowled at him. Harry scowled back and went inside.

He couldn't understand why his mother had chosen to live next door to the Dursleys. He'd asked a few times and gotten vague responses about the importance of family that did not at all satisfy him. Petunia and Vernon hated them and everything they stood for and Harry knew his mother wasn't telling him something.

"Check your room again before we leave, Harry," Lily instructed, appearing from the sparkling kitchen.

"I already did!" Harry objected, moving aside as Sirius released the levitation charm to carry the trunk outside normally. Floating trunks tended to attract unwanted muggle attention.

"I don't want to be mailing you too much stuff, go check again," Lily responded, shooing him upstairs while absently flicking her wand to open the door for Sirius. Harry grumbled as he went upstairs and wrinkled his nose as a check under his bed revealed a forgotten bag of potion ingredients and a telescope. He smiled innocently at his mother as he joined her and Sirius in the car a moment later. Lily rolled her eyes.

At 10:30, Sirius was pulling Harry's trunk from the car while Harry dashed off for a trolley. Once his things and Hedwig were securely settled, Harry led the way into the station, eyes peeled for Ron and his family who were supposed to meet them here.

It wasn't until Harry had gone through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, however, that Harry found the Weasleys.

"Oi, everyone, he's here!" a voice called. Ron's older twin brothers, Fred and George, bounded over to him, greeting him enthusiastically, obviously disgusting their older brother Percy who displayed his displeasure by scowling at their backs. Percy greeted him formally when Molly Weasley finally shooed to twins away. Ginny stood just behind her mother, blushing furiously as she watched her brothers with Harry. When Mrs. Weasley had said hello to him as well and then turned her attention to Sirius and Lily, with Ginny shooting furtive glances at Harry, still standing beside her mother, Harry turned to Ron.

"So have you gotten anyone to tell you how we get sorted yet?" Harry demanded. He had been bugging every wizard he knew to tell him, but all of them just grinned or made cryptic comments about singing.

"I dunno," Ron answered, looking over at where Fred and George were standing with a dark skinned boy who was showing everyone something in a box that seemed to be alarming the girls who were with them. "Fred kept going on about a troll," Ron continued, "and George was talking about dragons, but I'm pretty sure they're just pulling my leg...I hope."

"I'm sure they are," Harry agreed, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "I mean, we haven't learned any magic so they can't make it hard or dangerous...right?"

"No trolls or dragons," Sirius assured them from behind, causing both boys to jump.

"Then what do we have to do?" Harry asked urgently.

"Sing to the giant squid," he answered with an evil grin. Ron and Harry exchanged frustrated looks. Sirius ruffled his godsons hair. "You'll get through it, and you'll be in Gryfinndor and uphold the family tradition of making as much trouble as possible."

"Don't encourage him Sirius!" Lily objected, shooing everyone towards the train.

"No, I get enough letters about Fred and George!" Mrs. Weasley agreed, nodding towards them as they joined the group. "If I get another one this year about flooding hallways or exploding toilets, I am going to confiscate both your wands!" she added severely.

"Exploding toilets?" Fred asked. "Never thought of that! Thanks mum!" Mrs. Weasley scowled at them, and fortunately missed Sirius winking at them. Percy placed Hedwig in the empty compartment they'd claimed and excused himself with a very formal goodbye before going to join the other prefects. Fred and George said Ron said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley as well.

"Mom can't I go?" Ginny begged.

"Next year," her mother promised.

"Cheer up Gin," George told her, "we'll send you a Hogwart's toilet seat!"

While Mrs. Weasley began berating the twins for setting a bad example for their younger siblings, and Harry too, Harry said goodbye to his own family.

Finally a whistle blew, and the two mother witches hurried the boys onto the train, handing them last minute bags which they told them contained lunch. The three Weasley boys and Harry leaned out the window, waving while Ginny chased the train which was quickly gathering speed, until the station was out of sight.

Fred and George left to rejoin their third year friends, but not before dropping more ominous comments about trolls and dragons. Ron shut the door behind them and dropped onto the padded seat. "What do you say we don't think about it til we get there?" he suggested.

Harry agreed readily and produced a pack of exploding snap cards. It was a few hours later, after the witch with the food trolley had passed by, and Harry and Ron were busy trading chocolate frog cards and daring each other to eat funny coloured Bertie Botts while trading stories about who had encountered the worst flavours of the years. Harry had just been talked into biting into a bluish bean which turned out to be soap when the door to the compartment was opened by a bushy haired girl who was trailed by a nervous looking boy.

"Have either of you seen a toad?" the girl asked. When both Ron and Harry shook their heads, she crouched down and peered under the seats. The boy gave them an apologetic look as the girl moved some candy wrappers aside to get a better view.

"Not here," she declared, straightening. Her eyes fell on Harry and widened slightly. "Holy cricket! You're Harry Potter!"

"Really?" the boy asked, coming in.

"Er, hi," Harry replied, shooting a look at Ron who snickered quietly.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I've read all about you," the girl informed him, her tone reminding Harry vaguely of Percy. However, he was more disconcerted to learn that there were books about him.

"I'm Neville," the boy offered shyly.

"And you are?" Hermione asked, turning to Ron.

"Ron Weasley," he told her, while Harry took his own turn at snickering.

"Pleasure to meet you both. But you'd better get your robes on, we should be there soon." And with that she was gone, with Neville trailing behind, once again in search of his toad.

* * *

Well, that will do for now. Puching the purple button below will boost my ego and encourage faster updates (as long as my computer behaves anyway)

Also, the rest of the chapters will be divided between following Lily and following Harry.


	5. Late That Night

Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter does not belong to me.

Author's Note: I know this is short, but I don't have the whole Lily and Sirius plot worked out yet and I don't want to go too long without an update (especially with the hints I've been getting from a certain beta-reader cough tvnerdgirl cough)

Sarahthebardess: The soap flavoured bean is based on actualy experience. Twas icky but better than some of the others.

catchme: I will follow the storyline basically, mostly writing only the parts that change significantly, so it will mostly skim the first two books and then gt more involved with the third since that story line has to change completely.

Little Morgsi: it's been behaving, thank goodness

dARWIN: Lily and Sirius are not a couple at the moment, but that could change.

tvnerdgirl: oh good, I was hoping I hadn't skipped that part

Iniysa: I've heard other people comment in other people's stories about different coloured buttons too. thanks for finding it anyways ;-)

Tania. siriusgril, nightwing, stoney silence, carriebun, harryslytherin, ginnyharry, smorefan, and sirius-lover: Thank you all and here's an update.

* * *

Sirius was sprawled across the couch snoring and Remus was slumped in a chair. The two had spent most of the night reminiscing about the Marauders and finally fallen asleep shortly after midnight. Lily moved about, quietly summoning bottles and dishes and just generally tidying up.

The living room tidied to her standards, Lily dropped a blanket over Remus and retreated upstairs to the privacy of her room. She pulled out an old photo album and flipped through the pictures. She didn't bother wiping away the occasional tear that escaped as she watched her James as a young man waving at her, playing quidditch, casting spells or playing with Harry. She smiled at the picture of Sirius and James trying to teach a nine month old Harry to say "dada," a word he had been steadfastly refusing to say, referring to James as "pongs" instead. Although it had amused James that Harry referred to him by his old nickname, he had wanted Harry to call him something a little more traditional as well, as least sometimes. It had taken another two months before Harry finally called James "papongs" which James decided was sufficient.

Just before one am, Lily closed the album and looked out onto the moonlit street. She thought about Harry, wondering if he was in James' old dormitory, perhaps even the same bed James had once slept in. There was always a chance he had been sorted into another house, but she doubted it. In any case, Harry would probably send them an owl the very next morning so she would know soon enough.

Farther to the north, Harry Potter lay in his dormitory, half asleep and listening to the snores of the other new Gryffindor boys, including Ron and Neville. Hermione had also been sorted into Gryffindor, to the mild disgust of Ron who had found her rapid recitation of everything she had memorized from the books she'd read over the summer while they waited to find out exactly how the sorting was done rather irritating.

Harry had noticed professor Snape, the potions master, scowling at him occasionally throughout the feast and knew it had something to do with the fact that he and the Marauders had not gotten along during their years at school together. Harry was not looking forward to that class.

Besides Snape, Harry had noticed other people staring at him and whispering, although they seemed excited rather than malevolent. Mum and Sirius had obviously been right about how famous he was.

Finally, the long day caught up with the boy-who-lived and he drifted off to sleep, dreaming about mice and teacups.


	6. Reading, Mirrors, Petunia, Vampires, and...

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his world do not belong to me

Author's Note: this chapter and the next will explain why Lily is living next door to Petunia. The next chapter should be up within the next day or two, I'm just fixing the last bit of it.

Reviewer Response:

Linwe and catchme: I had fnu writing that part!

mcgonagall: I've tried the grass bean, it was decent

tvnerdgirl: sorry, I sent the fast forward button into the shop but they said they need parts, guess you'll just have to wait like the rest of us ;-)

siriusgrl: thank you. can you believe I actually had to go back and check what you were talking about:-)

* * *

Late on the morning of September second, Sirius Black was sprawled across the couch, surrounded by loose sheets of parchment which were covered in loopy handwriting. A few feet away, Remus Lupin was slouched in a chair with a large book open in his lap. Lily was at a desk in the next room, charming and un-charming a pair of hand mirrors. Every few tries, she flipped impatiently through the book lying open next to her.

A knock at the door caused all three to pause in surprise. Puzzled, Lily Potter abandoned the gently glowing mirrors and hurried to answer the door while Remus put aside his book and Sirius gathered his papers.

Petunia Dursley followed her sister to the living room, looking as stiff and uncomfortable as she always did when visiting the Potter/Black house. Not that she did that very often, and only when Vernon Dursley was at work and wouldn't know she'd come.

"Would you like some tea?" Lily asked, tucking a loose trand of red hair behind her ear as she came further into the living room.

"No thank-you," Petunia answered shortly, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Well, would you like to sit down?" An edge of anger sliced through her polite question and Sirius and Remus glanced at each other.

"I'm fine," Petunia replied coldly.

"Fine," Lily snapped back, sitting down next to Sirius who took her hand and squeezed in comfortingly.

"So what did you dream?" Remus inquired quickly, to forestall the argument he sensed brewing between the sisters.

"He's still in north Germany. He's in a forest somewhere." Petunia answered. She didn't wait for a reaction to her information, but turned and hurried away, eager to return to her safe muggle world.

Lily ground her teeth in frustration as the front door closed behind her elder sister. She knew Petunia resented her being a witch and that she blamed her for the spell gone wrong that had caused her to periodically have dreams about the whereabouts of Peter Pettigrew.

"So he's still in northern Germany," Sirius mused, trying to take Lily's mind of her sister's rudeness. "Considering the rate at which he was travelling a month ago, I thought he'd be at the North Pole by now."

"So what's he doing there?" Remus asked, leaning forward, a thoughtful frown on his face.

"There were rumours a while ago about a vampire coven in Germany, maybe he's looking for them," Lily suggested, determinedly putting her sister out of her mind.

"If that's true," Sirius said, "we'd better alert Dumbledore." He stood up, giving Lily's hand one last squeeze before disappearing into the office.

"Finish the letter to Harry while you're in there and we can send both owls off at once," Lily called as she stood up herself. Sirius made some sort of affirmative noise so Lily turned her attention to Remus. "Stay for lunch?" she invited.

"Love to," he answered. Lily smiled and led the way to the kitchen. While she contemplated the contents of her cupboard, Remus absently picked up the letter that Hedwig had brought them shortly after breakfast. The letter contained the happy news that Harry had been sorted into Gryffindor as had Ron Weasley.

Sirius joined them ten minutes later as Lily added the last of the carrots to the soup and set the spoon to stir by itself. "Owls are off," he informed them as he settled down across from Remus at the table.

"Good," Remus said, putting Harry's letter safely out of the way and Lily put bread and butter on the table.

"You guys could help you know," she commented without any real annoyance.

"Yeah, but you're a better cook." Sirius replied grinning. Lily hit him with a bread stick.

Sirius turned to Remus for sympathy but the werewolf merely laughed. "I think you deserved that Padfoot."

"What? Compliment a girl's cooking and she gets to hit you with lunch? How does that work?" he complained, then ducked as Lily made to hit him again. "Ok, ok!" he cried in mock surrender. Lily nodded in satisfaction and turned to the fridge for juice. Sirius took advantage of her facing the other way and leapt quietly from his chair before grabbing her around the waist and spinning her around.

Lily let out a startled sound that quickly turned to laughter and called to Remus for help between giggles and Sirius paraded her around the kitchen.

Remus snorted, moving his chair out of the way. "I think I'll stay out of this one. You may be the better cook, but he's better with a jinx."

"Yes I am!" Sirius agreed, coming to a stop by the window, holding Lily just high enough off the ground that her toes didn't quite reach it. She peered curiously at the floor and seemed to come to a decision. She twisted about so she could reach that one spot on Sirius's neck she knew would work. A moment later he let out a squawk and dropped her. Lily recovered her balance and checked on the soup while Sirius pouted.

"I knew you were ticklish!" Remus laughed. "No matter how much you denied it, I knew you were." Sirius ignored his friend as he returned to his chair, summoning bowls as he did since Lily was taking the soup off the stove. Remus leaned back and pulled spoons out of the drawer and the three friends enjoyed a nice lunch, reminiscing once more about their long ago school days.


	7. Spell Gone Wrong

Disclaimer: I not own Harry Potter, much as I wish I could take credit for it, I can't.

Author's Note: Yes, short, I know. This chapter takes place after the first chapter and explains what Petunia did last chapter.

Reviewer Response:

tvnerdgirl: I made this one short just for you! ;-)

Siriusgrl: I like the image of Sirius squawking :-)

catchme: yes, she is a cow

lily evans: that part was the most fun to write of the whole chapter

iniysa: here's more!

* * *

It was a lovely morning in early November and Petunia Dursley was happily scrubbing her kitchen. Her husband was out visiting with their 1 ½ year old son, so when there was a loud noise from the direction of the front door, Petunia stopped in alarm. Vernon should not be back yet, and he would have called out a greeting if he had returned for some reason, so whoever had made that noise did not belong. She edged along the counter, paused to pull a heavy rolling pin from a drawer, then continued edging towards the back door. She was still two feet from it when the door from the hallway to the kitchen swung open.

Two men in robes like the ones her sister had worn when she went to that dratted freak school stood there. One was short and looked vaguely familiar; the other was tall and scowled at her.

"Are you sure this is the right house?" the taller one demanded. "She doesn't look at all like Lily."

"I'm sure!" the other one said quickly. "Lily had a picture of her."

Petunia edged a little further along the counter, seething. She had told and told Lily that she didn't want her kind coming around here. She did not associate with freaks, even if that included her own sister. She would have objected, but the taller wizard was scowling at her and she had just a little too much experience with annoyed wizards to put voice to her annoyance.

"You had better be right Peter," the taller wizard informed him; Peter winced as the other turned his attention fully to Petunia. "Where is Lily Potter?" he demanded.

"I have no idea where she is and I don't care," Petunia snapped. She recognized the little one now, she had seen him at Lily's wedding two and a half years ago. She hadn't wanted to go, but her parents had insisted. If he was Lily's friend, he ought to know how the sisters felt about one another.

The wizard laughed coldly. "Her husband dies, her house is destroyed, and you expect us to believe that she didn't come to her only living relative?"

"No, she didn't," Petunia replied. Petunia edged a little further along to counter. She was surprised but not particularly upset to hear that her brother-in-law was dead. In fact, she was rather happy to hear it; maybe with her wizard husband gone, Lily would come to her senses and stop being a freak and things could be like they were before the letter arrived.

The wizard's face darkened with anger. "You think you can lie to me?" he demanded, raising his wand.

Petunia didn't even have time to dodge before the wizard shouted "Crucio" and she was enveloped in pain so complete nothing else mattered. When it finally stopped, she was curled on the gleaming tiles of her kitchen, er face wet with tears.

"Where is Lily Potter?" the wizard demanded again.

"I don't know!" Petunia sobbed, terror replacing anger.

"Crucio!" Petunia wasn't even aware that she was screaming.

This time when the spell lifted, Petunia tasted blood. She had bitten her lip.

"I can continue this all day muggle," the wizard informed her coldly, standing over her.

"I don't know where she is!" Petunia wailed.

The wand came up again and Petunia curled into a ball in dread anticipation. But the wizard was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and a masculine voice calling for Petunia. She herself did not recognize the voice, but the wizards apparently did for the tall one's eyes lit up with vicious expectation and after ordering Peter to continue with Petunia, hurried from the kitchen.

Petunia did not bother trying to get away as Peter came to stand over her, a sickening light in his eyes. "I've seen my master do this, it'll be much faster than Mason's way. Lellimensa!"

Images that did not belong to Petunia's memories flooded through her mind before she blacked out.

When Petunia came to she was in her own bed. She could hear two people shouting at one another in the next room and dimly recognized the voices as belonging to her husband and sister. Grimacing, she sat up and tried to get out of bed.

"That may not be a good idea," a gentle voice said from the doorway. Petunia looked around and saw a man in deep blue robes and a long white beard standing there. He came into the room and sat down in a chair next to the bed, placing a bowl of something steaming on her night stand. Petunia sniffed in automatic curiosity and realized it was chicken soup. "I am very glad you are awake, we were beginning to worry that Peter had done serious damage with his spell."

The man's eyes were gentle and his face sympathetic, but as he was obviously a wizard, Petunia disregarded this in favour of mistrust. "Who are you?" she demanded. Like Peter he looked vaguely familiar; probably he had been at Lily's wedding as well, there was no where else a normal person like Petunia could have seen a wizard affterall.

"I am Albus Dumbledore." He leaned forward slightly. "I realize you likely do not wish to talk about this, but we do need to know what spell Peter was trying to cast. The more we know about what he was trying, the better our chances of undoing it."

Fury and fear warred within Petunia, but fear of what that dratted little wizard might have done to her and having to put up with anything magical won over. "He said..." she paused, trying to remember. She was annoyed but her inability. She prided herself of being able to repeat exactly anything anyone said, especially when they would have preferred her to forget. Of course, they were usually using real words and she was not usually being tortured. "Lellimensa...I think," she said finally.

Dumbledore nodded, a grave look coming into his eyes.

"Petunia! Darling!" a voice cried. Vernon Dursley hurried into the room. "Are you all right?" he asked anxiously. Lily followed him into the room, clearly just as worried as Vernon.

Petunia nodded and Vernon turned to glare at Lily. "Why were those wizards here?" he demanded in a snarl. "You know perfectly well you are not welcome here! Get out!"

Lily's lips pressed into a line thin enough to rival even Petunia. "I am well aware of your...opinions," she said coolly. "But I am not leaving until I am sure Peter didn't do anything permanent or serious."

"What did he do?" Petunia demanded shakily. Vernon hugged her.

"He was attempting Leglimens, what muggles call mind-reading. Instead, he has formed a magical connection between the two of you that did not dissolve as it normally would. We cannot be sure yet what form the connection will take." Dumbledore explained.

Petunia made a whimpering sound. She had to choose between putting up with whatever Peter had done, or letting wizards stick around to find out? Life was not fair.

Ultimately, Petunia decided that letting Dumbledore stay and try to undo whatever Peter had done was the lesser of the two evils. Three weeks later, she was told that the connection would manifest in dreams. The best he could do was ensure that the dreams would occur only when she was asleep.


	8. Brooms, Gnomes, and a Kettle

Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowlings who has said she doesn't mind people borrowing it for fanfic so I am.

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, I'm having problems with my monitor so I can't get at some of my files and am typing this on

another computer. I didn't think it would be very nice to make you wait until I go back to school in September though.

Reviewer Response:

SarahtheBardess: That's ok, I forgot to review a few of your chapters. I am putting Remus in this chapter just for you!

2Insanitiesin1: thanks

catchmeifyacan: Lily's nice to her cause she's better than her J

tvnerdgirl:-P I like having you on the edge of the seat, maybe I should keep you there and make a short chapter!

* * *

It was the second week of classes and Harry and Ron had just seen the notice that flying lessons would begin on Thursday and would be shared with the Slytherins.

"Wonderful," Harry commented crossly to Ron as they went down to breakfast, "another lesson with the Slytherins." Nonetheless, Harry was excited. Like most wizarding children, he had grown up with brooms around and Sirius had even allowed Harry to fly on his when they were on holidays and both his mum and Sirius had told him he was just like his father, a natural.

Thursday morning dawned bright and clear. Harry and Ron enjoyed their breakfast and exchanged gleeful looks as they listened to Hermione frantically reciting flying tips from a quidditch book, while Neville listened with equal desperation. Neville was the only non-muggle-born who had not had some boastful flying story that included helicopters, birds, or other sort of near miss, whether true or exaggerated.

After breakfast, the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years trooped outside and joined Madam Hooch on the lawn.

"Right, everyone step up to your broom, hold out your right hand, and say 'up' " Madam Hooch instructed. Once everyone had their broom up in their hand, and some people had taken a few tries, Madam Hooch demonstrated how to mount their brooms and then moved along between the rows correcting students' grips. Harry grinned when she informed Malfoy he had been doing it wrong for years.

After assuring that everyone was properly mounted, Hooch instructed everyone to push off when she blew her whistle on the count of three then return to the ground after hovering for a moment. However, she had only reached too when Neville pushed off. Harry watched anxiously as he shot 20 feet into the air before slipping off and crashing back to the ground.

Madam Hooch and Neville hurried off to the hospital wing and were barely out of sight before Malfoy started laughing.. He swooped down on the spot where Neville had fallen and held up the remembrall Neville had been sent in the post that morning.

Before Malfoy could say anything, Harry stepped forward. "Give it here, Malfoy!" His mother and Sirius had always told him to stick up for his friends.

…..

Hedwig arrived shortly after Lily and Sirius had finished dinner.

_Mum and Sirius_

_Guess what! I'm the new seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team! So I need a broom. Oliver Wood (team captain and keeper) recommends__a Numbus 2000 or a Cleansweep 7. Early Christmas present?_

_I know first years aren't usually allowed brooms, but McGonagall's the one who put me on the team and they're going to bend that rule a bit. _

_Say hi to uncle Remus for me!_

_Love Harry_

Lily looked up at Sirius. "How exactly did a first year get on the quidditch team?" she asked suspiciously.

Sirius shrugged. "Well, McGonagall's probably desperate and if she saw him on a broom she'd see he's a natural."

Lily shook her head. "Just because someone can fly doesn't mean they can seek. There's something he's not telling us."

"You're paranoid," Sirius told her.

"I am not paranoid," Lily retorted, "I am a mother. A mother to a boy who you helped raise, I might add, which gives me very good reason to be suspicious."

"Hey!" Sirius protested. Lily snorted as she began floating dishes into the sink. Sirius continued to grumble about Lily maligning his character until Remus arrived at 8:00.

"Remus," Sirius declared as the two men settled into the living room, "your friend Lily has been slandering my good name. She actually implied that I raised Harry to be a mischief maker!"

Remus picked up a biscuit from a tray on the coffee table and looked at Sirius as though waiting for him to continue.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"You said Lily was slandering you but you haven't said how," Remus replied.

"I did too!" Sirius answered indignantly. "I told you she implied I taught Harry to be…" he paused, searching for the right word.

"A Marauder?" Remus offered.

Sirius let out an exasperated sigh. "I should have known you'd take her side!"

"So what brought this up anyway" Remus asked as Lily joined them.

"Harry made the quidditch team." Lily informed him.

Remus looked surprised. "That's great. But I thought first years weren't allowed?" he said.

"McGonagall's desperate to see the Slytherins go down this year," Sirius told him.

Remus nodded. "True, but how does she know he'll be a good seeker? That's not something they usually cover in flying classes is it?"

"Exactly!" Lily agreed, shooting a triumphant look at Sirius. "There's something he's not telling us. I'll just have to ask McGonagall next time

I see her. Oh, and Harry says hi."

The next afternoon another letter arrived with Hedwig just as Lily and Sirius were getting ready to go to Diagon Alley and buy Harry a broom.

_Mum and Sirius_

_I've been meaning to ask you, do you know why half the third floor corridor if out of bounds this year?_

_Love Harry_

"Now he's asking about the third floor? He is turning into you!" Lily said, a hint of worry in her voice.

"He's just being curious, I'm sure he won't go nosing or anything," Sirius said soothingly.

"He'd better not," Lily muttered as Sirius lit the fire for flooing, unaware that Harry, along with Ron, Hermione, and Neville, had already been in far enough to see Fluffy when he'd had to hide from Filch in the middle of the night.

Harry's broom arrived a week after McGonagall saw him diving after Neville's remembrall. When six owls dropped the long brown package in front of him he and Ron hurried from the Great Hall to unwrap it before classes started. Malfoy was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. When Harry and Ron reached them, he grabbed the package from Harry's hand and felt it before ripping it open and revealing a Nimbus 2000.

"You're in for it now, Potter, first years aren't allowed their own brooms!"

"Jealous Malfoy?" Harry taunted as he took it back.

"Course he is!" Ron chimed in. "He's got, what did you say it was, a Comet 260 at home? Looks flashy but it's not in the same class as a Nimbus!"

"Like you'd know. Your family has to save up for a broom twig by twig!" Malfoy snapped.

It was at this point that professor Flitwick appeared. "Not fighting, I hope," he squeaked.

"Potter's got a broom!" Malfoy said quickly.

Professor Flitwick nodded. "That's right, Professor McGongall told me all about it. A Nimbus is it?" he added, peering at the handle.

"That's right," Harrry confirmed, fighting back a laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face.

"That's it!" Lily Potter declared coming into the offiice from her garden. "I'm going to ask Mrs. Figg if we can buy one of her half kneazles, I am sick of having gnomes in my muggle garden!"

Sirius Black looked up from the kettle he was inspecting which had already bitten him once. He was doing a favour for Arthur Weasley who was slightly overwhelmed at the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office at the moment. "So you're sure we've got gnomes then?" Sirius asked as Lily disappeared into the kitchen. She reappeared a moment later with the first aid kit and pulled out a magical bandaid.

"I'm sure!" she answered firmly, holding out a slightly bloodied finger for Sirius's inspection before wrapping it. She sat down next to him and regarded the kettle which had begun spinning. "How's it coming?" she asked.

Sirius scowled at it. "I can't figure what Barnaby did to it," he groused. "I was hoping to be done before dinner because Dumbledore wants Remus and I to leave tonight."

Lily nodded sympathetically. It was the beginning of October and Petunia had reported once again that Peter was still in Germany. They were beginning to worry that Peter might have found Voldemort so Dumbledore was sending Sirius and Remus to find him.

"So what are you going to do while I'm gone?" Sirius asked as he gave the spinning kettle a sharp tap with his wand to make it stop. When this failed he briefly considered smashing it, but Arthur wanted to know what sort of spell Barnaby had used so he'd just have to keep at it.

Lily pulled Sirius' bitten hand towards her while he waved his wand over the kettle. "I'm going to work on the disguising mirror," Lily informed him as she gently poked at the flesh on the side of Sirius' hand. "You're lucky it didn't break the skin," she added. Sirius grunted

noncommittally as the kettle finally stopped spinning but began glowing orange. Smiling slightly to herself, Lily stood up and headed back to the kitchen with the first aid kit. "I'm going to get dinner started, chicken alright?" Sirius made a nose that Lily took as consent.

Lily moved about the kitchen preparing dinner and humming The Weird Sisters' latest song, occasionally interrupted by sounds from the dining room. From what Lily could tell, the kettle had bitten him again and was now hovering above the table.

Lily had set the table for three and was checking on the potatoes when Sirius let out a triumphant cry from the office. "Take that!" he shouted.

"No silly kettle gets the best of Sirius Black!"

"Glad it takes a smart kettle to get the better of you!" Lily teased, coming in to inspect his work.

"Very funny," Sirius said. He pulled Lily into his lap and proudly displayed the now unintended kettle. They were still sitting that way when Remus apparated into their living room.

"Cozy," he commented, peering into the office.

"Hey Moony," Sirius greeted cheerfully.

"Remus! Dinner!" Lily cried, suddenly remembering the food she'd left cookin in the kitchen. She scrambled up and darted into the kitchen. Amused, Sirius and Remus followed. "It's all right!" Lily told them as they came in, "nothing's burned."

* * *

Next chapter, Lily and Petunia and Sirius and Remus in Germany 


	9. Mirrors and Sandwiches and a Surprise

Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait, but I've had writer's block concerning this story (as well as the other big one I'm working on). Plus school and the fact that I couldn't find my copy of Philosopher's Stone and couldn't remember what Harry was supposed to be doing at this point...so, sorry for the wait.

* * *

"So, Lils, got some mirrors for us?" Sirius Black asked, coming into her bedroom. 

Lily Potter looked up briefly from the pile of clothes on her bed and flicked her fingers at three hand mirrors lying on her dresser. Sirius picked one up as she went back to poking through her clothes.

"Are they done?"

"As done as they're going to get before we leave." Lily answered. She looked up again, "How did I let you talk me into going with you again?"

"Because Dumbledore suggested it," Sirius replied, flipping the mirror around to inspect his reflection.

Lily waved her wand at the clothes and they began neatly piling themselves into her trunk. "Right, Dumbledore. I guess I'm still just not used to travelling. There was always Harry to look after and I still don't want to be that far from him."

"He'll be fine at Hogwarts with Dumbledore," Sirius reassured her. "What do you mean by as finished as they're going to get?" he added suspiciously.

"I can't make the transfiguration spell last more than an hour and it's more limited than the one on the big mirror."

"Limited?"

Lily nodded, tucking a stray strand of red hair behind her ear and closing her trunk with the other hand.. "Each mirror can only store two faces and the changes are strictly facial, none of the overall changes we can make with the larger one, no matter how you hold it or where you aim it."

"Well, that should be enough for what we intend," Sirius answered absently. "Blond hair," he added to the mirror as Lily went to pack her things in the washroom. His reflection's hair turned white blond and Sirius wrinkled his nose; he looked like a Malfoy. "Darker," he corrected and the image obediently changed. Sirius considered the effect for a moment before continuing. "Blue." His skin turned the colour of a Cornish Pixie. "Hey!"

Lily poked her head out of the bathroom. "Oh," she laughed. "Sorry, I forgot to mention that I didn't get the assumption mechanism working right. You have to be specific with these ones." She continued giggling. "You look like a smurf!"

Sirius scowled at her. "Oh very funny," he muttered. "Restore skin," he ordered the mirror. "And what's a smurf?" he asked, looking back up at Lily and trying to recall if he'd ever heard them mentioned in Care of Magical Creatures.

"Oh come on, Harry used to watch them on TV," Lily chided. Sirius looked at her blankly and Lily shook her head. "They were little blue people, there was only one girl, wore little white hats, big noses?" Sirius continued to look blank and Lily rolled her eyes. "It's was one of his favourite videos as a child!"

Sirius shrugged. "If you say so." He put the mirror down carefully and sat down on the edge of Lily's bed. He sat quietly for a moment, watching her get ready.

When she turned around she gave him a quizzical look. "Something wrong Sirius?" she asked.

"No, not really," he said after a moment. He stayed where he was for a moment then shook his head and stood up. "Guess I'm just getting pensive in my old age."

"That'll be the day!" Lily laughed. Sirius tugged her pony tail affectionately and would have replied but was interrupted by the doorbell.

"Who is that?" he asked, moving to the window and peering down at the front porch. "Is that Petunia?"

Lily peered down around his shoulder. "It is, I wonder what she wants." She closed her trunk with a flick of her wand as she hurried downstairs with Sirius behind her.

Lily threw open the door and greeted her sister with a smile. "Tunia, what brings you here?" she asked brightly.

Petunia frowned at her. "Peter was talking to some...thing, last night. I thought you should know."

"Thing?" Sirius repeated, leaning against the wall.

Petunia's frown deepened and Lily thought sadly that Petunia seemed to hate Sirius even more than she had hated James. "It was a tall, pale man with pointed teeth."

"Peter's been talking to vampires?" Lily asked alarmed.

"So it seems," Petunia answered shortly. Her message delivered, she turned on her heel and walked back to the safety of her muggle house, giving Lily's ramshackle front garden a disparaging look as she went.

Lily shut the door slowly and turned to look at Sirius. "Vampires," she repeated quietly.

"So we bring lots of stakes and garlic with us. At least we've got warning this time." He grimaced, remembering the last time he'd run into a vampire. It had been just after graduation and he'd been visiting some friends. All three of them had nearly died that night when three vampires unexpectedly showed up.

"I'm not so much worried about facing them, although there is that, but more concerned with what Peter is doing with them."

"Well, we'll just have to ask him that when we see him. Along with a few other questions." Sirius' gray eyes were hard as he spoke. Lily touched his arm gently and he looked at her, his gaze softening slightly.

"You don't still blame yourself for his betrayal, do you?" Lily asked.

Sirius sighed and moved into the living room. "Not really," he said as he sat down. "It's just...I wish we'd just..."

"Don't!" Lily interrupted. "Don't play the 'if only' game. What's done is done and it wasn't your fault." She took his hand and squeezed it. "It's been ten years Sirius," she added softly.

Sirius leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. "You're right, I know." He stood up and pulled her to her feet. "Remus will be here soon, we should finish getting ready to leave."

Lily nodded in agreement and headed for the stairs. "Did you send an owl to Harry telling him we'd be travelling for a bit?" she asked.

"I did," Sirius assured her just before disappearing into his room. Lily watched him moving about for a moment before entering her own room where she carefully wrapped the enchanted mirrors in some old robes. She tucked them into her pocket and floated her trunk down the stairs. Sirius appeared a moment later.

"I'm going to make some sandwiches," Lily said. "We should eat before we leave."

Sirius nodded agreeably. "Ok, I'm just going to grab a book on vampires. I'll be back in a minute." Sirius went into his office and began scanning through his books. Knowing that Voldemort wasn't dead, he had made sure to acquire as many good books of defense against the dark arts as he could. He knew there were at least three about vampires on his shelves somewhere. Now if he could just find them. He had a moment to muse that he might want to let Lily organize his office for him so he could find things, when he spotted the one he was looking for: "Surviving Vampire Encounters" by Anna Sanguine.

There was a sound from the living room which Sirius quickly identified as someone apparating. He looked out into the living room and saw Remus just dropping onto the couch. He looked exhausted and Sirius realized that the full moon had just ended the night before. He could also see Lily looking out of the kitchen.

"I suppose you haven't eaten either," she scolded. She marched into the living room and held out a sandwich to Remus who eyed it suspiciously. "Eat it, Remus Lupin, or I'll start adding things to all your food when you come. I know a really nice potion for green hair. Tastes like pickles, you'd never notice it."

Remus meekly took the sandwich, but when Lily went back into the kitchen, Sirius distinctly saw him checking for pickles.

"Motherly, isn't she?" Sirius commented as he came into the room himself.

"Very much so," Remus agreed. He bit into his sandwich then nearly spit it out again.

"What, she didn't put her pickle potion in it, did she?" Sirius asked.

"Why have you got a book on vampires out?" he demanded, eying the book Sirius was still carrying.

"Petunia says Peter's been talking to one," Sirius explained.

"Just perfect," Remus grumbled. Lily reappeared with more sandwiches and the three friends finished them while they worked out the last minute details of their trip. Finally they were finished and they gathered with their trunks to apparate to Germany.

They appeared in a clearing which was damp with recent rain. The moon was well up and gave them plenty of light to see the three vampires they'd surprised.


End file.
